Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, MN

Warren Howard Hayes easily ranks in the top tier of Akron-Auditorium designers. In fact, a strong case can be made that he was the innovator for the “diagonal plan” sanctuary that was used to extensively to wrap the congregation around pastor and pulpit. Wesley M.E. (now UMC) may be his best known work in the region. It still anchors the south end of the Minneapolis CBD.

Closer to home, Hayes was also architect for First M.E. in Fargo, the first A-A church I had seen at close hand when I began teaching at NDSU in 1971. Hayes was the first important character in the long research agenda that followed.